CN109392093B

CN109392093B - Method and equipment for sending paging message

Info

Publication number: CN109392093B
Application number: CN201710687218.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 权威; 王燕; 张戬
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-08-11
Filing date: 2017-08-11
Publication date: 2020-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-11
Also published as: CN109392093A

Abstract

A method and a device for sending a paging message are provided, the method comprises the following steps: a first network device (central unit CU) sends a first message to a second network device (distribution unit DU), where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the first network device sends a second message to the second network device, the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used for indicating a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time. By adopting the method of the embodiment of the application, the paging of the terminal equipment becomes possible under the framework of the distribution unit and the concentration unit.

Description

Method and equipment for sending paging message

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a method and a device for sending a paging message.

Background

Currently, in LTE Rel-15 and 5G NR evolution, as shown in fig. 1, a new network architecture is proposed. Under the network architecture, the functions of the base station are divided into two units, a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). Wherein, the CU handles Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, etc. radio higher layer protocol stack functions; the DU handles the physical layer of baseband processing and part of the protocol stack functions of layer 2, such as Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and physical layer (PHY). Wherein, the interface between the CU and the DU is an F1 interface.

When the network architecture is applied to a scenario of paging a User Equipment (UE), the procedure is specifically as follows: a Core Network (CN) sends paging messages of all UE to a CU according to the service requirements of the UE; when the CU receives the paging message of each UE, the CU calculates, according to the identifier of the UE and the system parameter, a time when the DU sends the paging message to the UE in the air interface, for example, the time when the paging message is sent may be in the B-th subframe of the a-th radio frame; and finally, encapsulating the paging message of the UE with the same paging time into an RRC paging message, and sending the RRC paging message to the DU through an F1 interface.

In the prior art, in consideration of the transmission delay of the F1 interface, a CU needs to send an RRC paging message to a DU before the DU sends the RRC paging message over an air interface. Since in practical applications, the transmission delay of the F1 interface is not fixed, but varies with the load, in this case, there is no corresponding solution for how the CU sends the paging message.

Disclosure of Invention

Embodiments of the present application provide a method and an apparatus for sending a paging message, so as to make it possible to send the paging message under a CU and DU separation architecture.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for sending a paging message, including: a first network device sends a first message to a second network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message comprises identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used for indicating the time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the first network device sends a second message to the second network device, the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used for indicating a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

It should be noted that in the present application, multiple paging messages are sent for the same paging time, so that the paging delay can be reduced on the premise of ensuring the paging success.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the first network device generating the first message; the first network device generates the second message.

In one possible design, the first network device sending a second message to the second network device includes:

the first network device sends the second message to the second network device before the first paging occasion.

It should be noted that the first network device sending the second message to the second network device before the first paging occasion may further ensure that the second network device successfully sends the paging message at the second paging occasion.

In one possible design, the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used to identify the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used to identify the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and if the first network equipment receives a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message in the first message within a first set time length and does not receive a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message in the second message within a second set time length, the first network equipment sends a third message to the second network equipment, wherein the third message comprises a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least comprises identification information of the second terminal equipment, and the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

It should be noted that, by using the above manner for the second network device to send the feedback message, the first network device can successfully obtain the RRC paging message specifically sent by the second network device after sending a plurality of messages, so that the first network device can obtain the second RRC paging message corresponding to the known second message, and when the second RRC paging message is not successfully sent in the air interface, the third message is sent again, thereby ensuring that the paging is successful.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a method for receiving a paging message, including: a second network device receives a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message comprises identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used for indicating the time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the second network device receives a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In one possible design, the method further includes: the second network equipment sends the first RRC paging message at the first paging moment; or, the second RRC paging message is sent at the second paging occasion.

It should be noted that in the present application, if the second network device successfully receives the second message at the second paging occasion, the second RRC paging message of the second message is sent; a first RRC paging message in the developed first message if the second network device only successfully receives the first message at the second paging occasion. By adopting the method, the success of paging of part of the terminals can be determined.

In one possible design, the method further includes: and the second network equipment sends the second RRC paging message when the difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is greater than a second set time length.

In one possible design, the second network device sends the first RRC paging message, further comprising:

the second network device discards the second message; the second network device sending the second RRC paging message, further comprising: the second network device discards the first message.

In one possible design, the method further includes: after the second network device successfully sends the first RRC paging message, sending a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the first RRC paging message to the first network device; or after the second network device successfully sends the second RRC paging message, the second network device sends a feedback message to the first network device, where the feedback message is successfully sent for the second RRC paging message.

In a third aspect, the present application provides a method for receiving a paging message, including: a second network device receives a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the second message comprises a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same; the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, wherein the newer message is the first message or the second message; the second network device sends a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, and when the newer message is the first message, the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

In one possible design, the second network device selects a newer message among the first message and the second message, including: the second network equipment acquires a first time and a second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message;

when the first time is greater than the second time, the second network device determines that the first message is the newer message; and/or when the first time is less than or equal to the second time, the second network device determines that the second message is the newer message.

In one possible design, the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, including:

the second network device obtains a first data volume and a second data volume, wherein the first data volume is the data volume of the first message, and the second data volume is the data volume of the second message;

when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, the second network device determines that the first message is the newer message; and/or the second network device determines that the second message is the newer message when the first data volume is less than or equal to the second data volume.

In one possible design, the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, including: and the second network equipment selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

In one possible design, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number;

the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, and the selecting includes: when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, the second network equipment determines that the first message is a newer message; and/or the second network device determines that the second message is a newer message when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number.

In one possible design, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number; the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, and the selecting includes: the second network equipment acquires a first time and a second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; the second network equipment determines a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message; the second network device determines that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or the second network device adds the sequence number of the later received message to a first set value when the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, so as to obtain a third sequence number; the second network device makes a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, the second network device determines that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

In a fourth aspect, a first network device is provided, comprising: a transceiver, configured to send a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the transceiver is further configured to send a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In one possible design, the apparatus further includes: a processor configured to generate the first message and the second message.

In one possible design, when sending the second message to the second network device, the transceiver is specifically configured to: sending the second message to the second network device prior to the first paging occasion.

In one possible design, the transceiver is further to: and if a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message in the first message is received within a first set time length and a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message in the second message is not received within a second set time length, sending a third message to the second network equipment, wherein the third message comprises a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least comprises identification information of the second terminal equipment, and the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

In a fifth aspect, a second network device is provided, which includes: a transceiver, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, where the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the transceiver is further configured to receive a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In one possible design, the transceiver is further to: transmitting the first RRC paging message at the first paging time; or, the second RRC paging message is sent at the second paging occasion.

In one possible design, the transceiver is further to: and when the difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is larger than a second set time length, sending the second RRC paging message.

In one possible design, the apparatus further includes: a processor configured to discard the second message when the transceiver transmits the first RRC paging message, or discard the first message when the transceiver transmits the second RRC paging message.

In one possible design, the transceiver is further to: after the first RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the first RRC paging message to the first network equipment; or after the second RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message for successful sending of the second RRC paging message to the first network device.

In a sixth aspect, a second network device is provided, which includes: the transceiver is used for receiving a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the second message comprises a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same; a processor configured to select a newer message from the first message and the second message, wherein the newer message is the first message or the second message; the transceiver is further configured to send a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, where the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message when the newer message is the first message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

In one possible design, the processor is specifically configured to, when selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; determining that the first message is the newer message when the first time is greater than the second time; and/or determining the second message as the newer message when the first time is less than or equal to the second time.

In one possible design, the processor, when selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message, is specifically configured to: acquiring a first data volume and a second data volume, wherein the first data volume is the data volume of the first message, and the second data volume is the data volume of the second message; when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, determining that the first message is the newer message; and/or when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, determining that the second message is the newer message.

In one possible design, the processor, when selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message, is specifically configured to: and selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

In one possible design, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number; the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, and the selecting includes: when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, the second network equipment determines that the first message is a newer message; and/or the second network device determines that the second message is a newer message when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number.

In one possible design, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number; when selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, the processor is specifically configured to: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; determining a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message; determining that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or when the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, adding the sequence number of the later received message and a first set value to obtain a third sequence number; making a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, determining that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

A seventh aspect provides an apparatus for sending a paging message, including: a receiving and sending unit, configured to send a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the transceiver unit is further configured to send a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In one possible design, the apparatus further includes: a processing unit configured to generate the first message and the second message.

In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to: sending the second message to the second network device prior to the first paging occasion.

In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to: and if a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message in the first message is received within a first set time length and a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message in the second message is not received within a second set time length, sending a third message to the second network equipment, wherein the third message comprises a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least comprises identification information of the second terminal equipment, and the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus for receiving a paging message, including: a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, where the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message; the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to transmit the first RRC paging message at the first paging occasion, or transmit the second RRC paging message at the second paging occasion.

In a possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to send the second RRC paging message when a difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is greater than a second set duration.

In one possible design, the apparatus further includes: a processing unit, configured to discard the second message or discard the first message.

In one possible design, the transceiver unit is further configured to: and after the first RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message to the first network equipment, or after the second RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message to the first network equipment.

In a ninth aspect, there is further provided an apparatus for receiving a paging message, including: a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, and the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same; a processing unit, configured to select a newer message from the first message and the second message, where the newer message is the first message or the second message; a transceiver unit, configured to send a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, where the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message when the newer message is the first message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

In one possible design, the processing unit is specifically configured to: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; determining that the first message is the newer message when the first time is greater than the second time; and/or determining the second message as the newer message when the first time is less than or equal to the second time.

In one possible design, the processing unit is specifically configured to: acquiring a first data volume and a second data volume, wherein the first data volume is the data volume of the first message, and the second data volume is the data volume of the second message; when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, determining that the first message is the newer message; and/or when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, determining the second message as the newer message.

In one possible design, the processing unit is specifically configured to: and selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, determining that the first message is a newer message; and/or determining the second message as a newer message when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number.

the processing unit is specifically configured to: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message;

determining a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message; determining that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or when the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, adding the sequence number of the later received message and a first set value to obtain a third sequence number; making a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, determining that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

A tenth aspect provides a readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any of the above.

In an eleventh aspect, an apparatus is provided, which includes a processing module and a communication interface, where the processing module is configured to control the communication interface to communicate with the outside, and the processing module is further configured to implement the fourth aspect or any possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the fifth aspect, any possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect or the sixth aspect, or the method performed by the processor in any possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect or the seventh aspect.

As can be seen from the above, in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device may send at least two paging messages to the second network device at the same paging time, and the second network device sends the second paging message to the terminal device in an air interface if the second paging message is received before the paging time, so that paging messages for part of terminal devices at the same time are prevented from being sent until the next cycle, and thus, the paging delay is reduced. And before the paging time, if the second paging message is not received and only the first paging message is received, the second network device sends the first paging message to the first terminal device in the air interface, so that the successful sending of the paging messages of at least part of the terminal devices can be ensured. Therefore, by adopting the method of the embodiment of the application, the paging time delay is reduced on the premise of ensuring the success of paging.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a system architecture diagram provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a flowchart of a paging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3a and fig. 3b are a schematic flow chart of a paging method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a flowchart of a paging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a paging method according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a network device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a device for sending a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of a paging message receiving apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a device for receiving a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

For ease of understanding, the examples are given to illustrate concepts related to embodiments of the present application by reference, as follows:

the Core Network (CN) may be an EPC in Long Term Evolution (LET) of a fourth generation Radio Access system, an NGC in NEW air interface (NEW Radio, NR) of a fifth generation Radio Access system, or even a core network in Radio Access Technology (RAT), where the RAT generally refers to second and third generation Radio Access technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, TDSCDMA, CAMA2000, and the like.

A Central Unit (CU) connected to the CN and the Distributed Unit (DU), respectively, for receiving data from the CN and transmitting to the DU in a downlink communication link, and for receiving data from the DU and transmitting to the CN in an uplink communication link. Meanwhile, the CU has a centralized control function of the DU. In different communication systems, CUs may have different names, but units similar to CU functions are within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

The DU is connected to the CU and a User Equipment (UE), respectively, and is configured to receive data from the CU and transmit the data to the UE in a downlink communication link, and is configured to receive data from the UE and transmit the data to the CU in an uplink communication link. In different communication systems, the DU may have different names, but units similar to the DU in function are within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

A User Equipment (UE) is a terminal device, which may be a mobile terminal device or an immobile terminal device. The device is mainly used for receiving or sending service data. The user equipments may be distributed in networks where the user equipments have different names, such as: a terminal, a mobile station, a subscriber unit, a station, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant, a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless telephone, a wireless local loop station, a vehicle mounted device, etc. The user equipment may communicate with one or more core networks via a Radio Access Network (RAN), an access portion of a wireless communication network, for example to exchange voice and/or data with the radio access network.

In the embodiment of the present application, the connection between the core network and the CU, the connection between the CU and the DU, and the connection between the DU and the UE may be wireless or wired.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application is described in the following with reference to the attached drawings:

fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a possible network architecture according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, in the network architecture, the functions of the base station are divided into two units, CU and distribution unit DU. Wherein, the CU handles Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, etc. radio higher layer protocol stack functions; the DU handles the physical layer of baseband processing and part of the protocol stack functions of layer 2, such as Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, and physical layer (PHY).

The interface between the CU and the DU may be an F1 interface, or may be other interfaces, and in different communication systems, the interface between the CU and the DU may have different names, but units having functions similar to those of the F1 interface are within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

When the above network architecture is applied to a scenario of paging a User Equipment (UE), as shown in fig. 2, the process specifically includes:

step S21: and the Core Network (CN) sends the paging message of each UE to the CU according to the service requirement of the UE.

Step S22: when receiving the paging message of each UE, the CU determines, according to the identifier of the UE and the system parameter, a time when the DU sends the paging message to the UE in the air interface, for example, the time when the paging message is sent may be in the B-th subframe of the a-th radio frame.

Step S23: the CU encapsulates the paging messages of the UE with the same paging time into an RRC paging message;

in the embodiment of the present application, for example, the CU receives the paging messages of 4 UEs, and after the calculation of step S22, the calculated paging times of the 4 UEs are as follows:

UE1，PF＝100，PO＝0；

UE2，PF＝100，PO＝5；

UE3，PF＝100，PO＝0；

UE4，PF＝100，PO＝5；

note that the PF refers to a radio system frame number SFN, and the PO refers to a number corresponding to a subframe in the radio system frame.

As can be seen, the paging time of the UE1 is the same as that of the UE3, and the paging time of the UE2 is the same as that of the UE4, so in the embodiment of the present application, the paging message of the UE1 and the paging message of the UE3 may be encapsulated into an RRC paging message a, where the RRC paging message a includes the identification information of the UE1 and the identification information of the UE3, and the paging message of the UE2 and the paging message of the UE4 may be encapsulated into an RRC paging message B, where the RRC paging message B includes the identification information of the UE2 and the identification information of the UE 4.

Step S24: and the CU encapsulates the RRC paging message and the determined paging time into an interface message.

In the embodiment of the present application, following the above example, the RRC paging message a and the RRC paging message B may be specifically encapsulated into two interface messages, which are a first interface message and a second interface message, respectively. The first interface message includes the RRC paging message a and a first paging time (specifically, PF 100, PO 0), and the second interface message includes the RRC paging message B and a second paging time (specifically, PF 100, PO 5).

In an embodiment of the present application, the interface message may specifically be a FIAP message, or may specifically be a FIAP message carrying a NAS message, or may specifically be a FIAP message carrying a broadcast message, or may specifically be a FIAP message carrying a RRC message, or the like.

Step S25: the CU sends the interface message to the DU through an F1 interface;

step S26: when the DU receives the interface message, decapsulating the interface message to obtain an RRC paging message and paging time in the interface message;

step S27: and the DU sends RRC paging information in an air interface at the corresponding paging time, wherein the RRC paging information is used for paging the UE.

In practical applications, the transmission delay of the F1 interface between the CU and the DU is not a fixed value, but varies with the load of the F1 interface, for example, the larger the load of the F1 interface is, the larger the transmission delay of the F1 interface is, and conversely, the smaller the transmission delay of the F1 interface is. Therefore, in this case, it is not feasible to directly set the transmission delay of the F1 interface to a fixed value, and then the CU sends the paging message based on the fixed value, for example, if the preset transmission delay is relatively large, it may cause the CU to send the RRC paging message to the DU a long time ahead, and if a new paging message of the UE at the same paging time arrives at the CU side during this time period, the paging message of the UE may only wait for the next cycle to be sent, so that the paging delay of the UE becomes large. However, if the preset transmission delay is relatively short, a part of RRC paging messages may not be sent in the air interface at the specified time, thereby causing paging failure.

Based on the foregoing, embodiments of the present application provide a method for sending a paging message, and a main principle of the method is that a CU may send a paging message at the same time multiple times, and a DU sends a newer message when receiving multiple paging messages at the same time, so that paging latency may be reduced on the premise of ensuring successful paging.

Fig. 3a is a flowchart of a method for sending a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application, where a first network device in the flowchart may correspond to the CU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and a second network device may correspond to the DU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, as shown in fig. 3a, including:

step S31: the first network device sends a first message to the second network device.

In the embodiment of the present application, an interface between the first network device and the second network device may specifically be an F1 interface, may also specifically be a FIAP message carrying a NAS message, may also specifically be a FIAP message carrying a broadcast message, may also specifically be a FIAP message carrying a RRC message, and the like, may also specifically be a FIAP message carrying a paging message, and the like, which are not described herein again.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the identification information of the first terminal device may specifically be identification information of one terminal device, and may also specifically be identification information of multiple terminal devices, for example, the RRC paging message may specifically include identification information of UE1, and may also include identification information of UE1, identification information of UE2, identification information of UE3, and the like.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first paging occasion information is used to indicate a moment at which the second network device sends the first RRC paging message over an air interface, where the moment may specifically include a symbol, a slot, a subframe, a frame, a time interval, a time point, and the like. In an example, the first paging time information may specifically be PF ═ M, PO ═ N, where M and N are integers, the PF refers to a number of a radio system frame SFN, and the PO refers to a number corresponding to a subframe in the radio system frame.

Step S32: the first network device sends a second message to the second network device.

In an embodiment of the present application, the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, where the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device. The identification information of the second terminal device may specifically be identification information of one terminal device, and may also specifically be identification information of multiple terminal devices, and similarly, the identification information of the second terminal device may only include identification information of UE1, and may also include identification information of UE2, identification information of UE3, identification information of UE4, identification information of UE5, identification information of UE6, and the like.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first paging occasion indicated by the first paging occasion information is the same as the second paging occasion indicated by the second paging occasion information.

Specifically, in the embodiment of the present application, the first network device may specifically send the second message to the second network device before the first paging occasion.

In an example, the first network device may estimate a transmission delay of the F1 interface according to a load of the current F1 interface; then, according to the first paging time and the transmission delay in the F1 interface, calculating the time for sending the second paging information; for example, if the first network device estimates the transmission delay of the F1 interface to be 10ms and the first paging time is 8min:20s:40ms, the first network device may send the second message in 8min:10s:30 ms.

In another example, the first network device may determine a processing delay of the first network device, calculate a time to transmit the second paging information; for example, the processing delay is 1ms, and the first paging occasion is 8min:20s:40ms, the first network device may send the second message in 8min:20s:39 ms.

Step S33: and the second network equipment sends the second RRC paging message at the second paging time.

In an embodiment of the present application, the second network device sends the second RRC paging message in an air interface at the second paging time to page the first terminal device and the second terminal device.

Optionally, the second network device may discard the received first message.

It should be noted that, in the flow of fig. 3a in the embodiment of the present application, the first device is only exemplified to transmit two messages at the same paging time. In embodiments of the present application, the first device may send two or more messages for the same paging occasion.

It should be noted that a plurality of the embodiments of the present application means two or more. The terms first, second, etc. used in the description of the embodiments of the application are used for distinguishing between descriptions and not for indicating or implying any relative importance or order.

Fig. 3b is a flowchart of a method for sending a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application, where a first network device in the flowchart may correspond to the CU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and a second network device may correspond to the DU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, as shown in fig. 3b, where the method includes:

The details of step S31 and step S32 are described in fig. 3 a.

Step S34: and the second network equipment sends the first RRC paging message at the first paging time.

Optionally, the second network device may discard the received second message.

It can be seen that, in the embodiment of the present application, if the second network device receives the second message after the first paging time, the second network device may send the first RRC paging message at the first paging time, so as to ensure that paging of part of the terminal devices is successful at the first paging time.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of a method for sending a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application, where a first network device in the flowchart may correspond to the CU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and a second network device may correspond to the DU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, as shown in fig. 4, where the method includes:

step S41: the first network device sends a first message to the second network device.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device may generate a first message, send the first message to the second network device, and start a timer, where the timer is provided with a first set duration, and the first set duration may be set by itself, for example, the first set duration may be a specific time interval, for example, 10 ms. For a detailed description of the first message, refer to the description in step S31, and are not described herein again.

Step S42: the first network device sends a second message to the second network device.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first network device may generate a second message, send the second message to the second network device, and start a timer, where the timer is provided with a second set duration, and the second set duration may be self-set, for example, the second set duration may be specifically a time interval, for example, 15 ms.

Optionally, the first set time period and the second set time period may be the same or different.

Alternatively, the first network device may start only one timer, for example, at step S41, or at S42, and may also start at the first paging time, which is not limited in the present invention.

Step S43: the second network device transmits a first paging message at a first paging occasion.

Specifically, if the second network device does not receive the second paging message before the first paging time, the second network device sends the first paging message at the first paging time.

Step S44: and the second network equipment sends a feedback message to the first network equipment, wherein the feedback message is the feedback message which is successfully sent by the second network equipment aiming at the first paging message in the first message.

Step S45: the first network device sends a third message to the second network device.

In an embodiment of the application, if a first network device receives a feedback message successfully sent to a first RRC paging message in a first message within a first set time duration, and does not receive a feedback message successfully sent to a second RRC paging message in a second message within a second set time duration, the first RRC paging message is considered to be successfully sent, and the second RRC paging message fails to be sent, at this time, the first network device may send a third message to a second network device, where the third message includes a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least includes an identifier of a second terminal device, and the third paging time is greater than the second paging time, or the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the sequence of step S41 to step S45 is not limited, for example, step S42 may be executed first and step S43 may be executed second, step S43 may be executed first and step S42 may be executed first, and any sequence combination of step S41 to step S45 is within the protection scope of the embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from the above, in the embodiment of the present application, after the second network device successfully sends the paging message in the air interface, the second network device sends the feedback message for the paging message, so that after the first network device sends the two messages at the same paging time, the first network device can know that a specific one of the two messages is successfully sent, and if the paging message (for example, the second paging message in the second message) in the newer message of the two messages is not successfully sent, the third paging message including the terminal device identifier in the newer message is sent again, thereby ensuring that all the terminal devices can be successfully paged.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method for sending a paging message according to an embodiment of the present application, where a first network device in the flowchart may correspond to the CU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, and a second network device may correspond to the DU in fig. 1 and fig. 2, as shown in fig. 5, where the method includes:

step S51: the first network device sends a first message to the second network device.

Step S52: the first network device sends a second message to the second network device.

Step S53: the second network device selects a newer Message from the first Message and the second Message, for example, the newer Message may be an Updated Message or a last Message.

In an embodiment of the present application, the newer message is the first message or the second message;

step S54: the second network device sends a third RRC paging message included in the newer message.

In an embodiment of the present application, when the newer message is the first message, the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

In an embodiment of the present application, regarding how the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, the following manner is provided, specifically:

in one example, a second network device may obtain a first time and a second time, the first time being a time when the second network device receives the first message, the second time being a time when the second network device receives the second message; when the first time is greater than the second time, the second network equipment determines that the first message is the newer message; and the second network equipment determines the second message as the newer message when the first time is less than or equal to the second time.

Since in a normal case the later the time the first network device sends the message, the later the corresponding second network device receives the message. Since the later message sent by the first network device is newer, the more paging messages carried in the corresponding message, in the embodiment of the present application, the second network device may determine that the message with the later receiving time is the newer message.

In one example, the second network device may obtain a first data volume and a second data volume, where the first data volume is a data volume of the first message and the second data volume is a data volume of the second message; when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, the second network equipment determines that the first message is the newer message; and when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, the second network equipment determines that the second message is the newer message.

In this example, since the identification information of the terminal device included in the newer message is more than that included in the older message, and the corresponding data size is also larger, in this example, the second network device may determine the newer message according to the data size of the received message.

In one example, the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used to identify the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used to identify the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different. In an embodiment of the present application, the first identification information and the second identification information may specifically be Serial Numbers (SNs), check values, and the like.

In the embodiment of the present application, a process of how the first network device sets sequence numbers for the first message and the second message, and how the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message will be described in detail by taking the first identification information as the sequence number SN as an example.

The first method is as follows: the first network device may set the sequence numbers in sequence according to the sequence of sending the messages, for example, the first network device sends the first message, the second message, the third message in sequence, and up to the 100 th message, then the first network device may set the sequence number 0 for the first message, set the sequence number 1 for the second message, set the sequence number 2 for the third message, set the sequence number 99 for the 100 th message, and so on.

In an embodiment of the present application, it is set that a first sequence number is carried in a first message, and a second sequence number is carried in a second message, so that a second network device may determine that the first message is a newer message when the first sequence number is greater than the second sequence number; and when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number, the second network equipment determines that the second message is a newer message.

It should be understood that the first network device needs to send messages continuously in practice, so that the sequence number may increase continuously, and the overhead occupied by the sequence number is very large. Based on this, a second mode is proposed, in which the principle of the second mode is to set a maximum value of the sequence numbers, and when the maximum value is reached, the sequence numbers are sorted from the minimum value, for example, the set maximum value of the sequence numbers is 7, and then the sequence numbers are sorted from 0 after reaching 7, so that it can be seen that the size of the sequence numbers should be a modulo concept, for example, 0 after 7 should be considered that 0 is greater than 7. Based on this, a second mode is proposed as follows:

the second method comprises the following steps: the first network device sets sequence numbers for the transmitted messages, the sequence numbers being ordered from 0 to 7, and when a maximum value of 7 is reached, the ordering is restarted from 0. The specific implementation modes include the following steps:

the first setting mode is as follows: when the terminal equipment sends a message, the sequence number +1 reaches the maximum value, the counting is restarted.

The second setting mode is as follows: and the terminal equipment restarts counting after the sequence number +1 reaches the maximum value every time one message is sent at the same paging moment. For example, the paging time of the message is specifically PF ═ M and PO ═ N, and when the PF and PO of two messages are the same, the paging time of the two messages is considered to be the same. For the meaning of PF and PO, see the above description specifically, and are not repeated herein.

The third setting mode is as follows: when the paging time of the message is specifically PF ═ M and PO ═ N, for messages with the same value of PF, according to the rule that every time a message is sent, sequence number +1, and counting is restarted after the maximum value is reached.

For the setting method, a specific method for determining the newer message is provided, and the principle is as follows: if the value of the sequence number of the message received later by the second network device is greater than or equal to the value of the sequence number of the message received earlier, the message received later can be considered as a newer message; and if the value of the sequence number of the message received later by the second network device is less than the value of the sequence number of the message received earlier, the sequence number received later can be +2^NThen, the sequence number of the message received in the first time is subtracted, if the difference is less than 2^N-1Then the later received message is considered as a newer message, if the difference is greater than 2^N-1Then the previously received message is considered to be a newer message. N is ═ log₂ ^(W+1)And W is the maximum value of the sequence number.

In the embodiment of the present application, it is set that the first message carries the first sequence number, and the second message carries the second sequence number, so that the second terminal device determines a process of updating the message from the first message and the second message, as follows:

the second network equipment acquires a first time and a second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message;

the second network equipment determines a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message;

the second network device determines that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message;

when the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, the second network device adds the sequence number of the later received message to a first set value to obtain a third sequence number; the second network device makes a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, the second network device determines that the newer message is the message received earlier; if the difference value between the two is less than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is 2^N-1First set value/2.

It can be seen that, by adopting the above method, only a small overhead is needed to indicate the sequence number, for example, the maximum sequence number is 7, then only 3 bits are needed to indicate the sequence number, and compared with the first indication mode, the signaling overhead can be saved.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a base station according to an embodiment of the present application, where the base station may be a CU or a DU in fig. 1 and 2, or may be a first network device or a second network device in fig. 3a, 3b, 4, and 5.

In an embodiment of the application, the base station comprises a transceiver 61 and a controller/processor 62. The transceiver 61 may be used to support information transceiving between the base station and the second network device or the first network device in the above embodiments, and to support radio communication between the base station and the core network device. The "/" indicates a relationship of or. Either one of them may be used.

The controller/processor 62 is operative to perform various functions for communicating with terminal devices and core network devices. In the uplink, uplink signals from the terminal device are received via the antenna, demodulated by the transceiver 61, and further processed by the controller/processor 62 to recover the traffic data and signaling information sent by the terminal device. On the downlink, traffic data and signaling messages are processed by a controller/processor 62 and conditioned by a transceiver 61 to generate a downlink signal, which is transmitted via an antenna to the UEs. The controller/processor 62 is further configured to perform the method for transmitting a paging message as described in the above embodiments, and transmit the first message and the second message. The controller/processor 62 may also be configured to perform the processes of fig. 3a, 3b, 4, or 5 relating to a base station and/or other processes for the techniques described in embodiments of this application. The base station may also include a memory 63 that may be used to store program codes and data for the base station. Optionally, the base station may further include a communication unit 64, configured to support the base station to communicate with other network entities, such as terminal devices.

It will be appreciated that fig. 6 only shows a simplified design of a base station. In practical applications, a base station may include any number of transmitters, receivers, processors, controllers, memories, communication units, etc., and all base stations that may implement embodiments of the present application are within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 7, an embodiment of the present application further provides a paging message sending apparatus 70, including:

a transceiver 71, configured to send a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiver 71 is further configured to send a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In an embodiment of the application, the apparatus further comprises: a processing unit 72 configured to generate the first message and the second message.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 71 is configured to: sending the second message to the second network device prior to the first paging occasion.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used to identify the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used to identify the second message, and the first identification information is different from the second identification information.

In an embodiment of the present application, the transceiver 71 is further configured to send, within a first set time duration, a third message to the second network device if a feedback message that is successfully sent to the first RRC paging message in the first message is received and a feedback message that is successfully sent to the second RRC paging message in the second message is not received within a second set time duration, where the third message includes a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, where the third RRC paging message at least includes identification information of the second terminal device, and a third paging time is later than the second paging time.

For the details of the paging message transmitting apparatus, reference may be made to the above description of the paging message transmitting method.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 8, an embodiment of the present application further provides a paging message receiving apparatus 80, including:

a transceiver 81, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, where the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiving unit 81 is further configured to receive a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

In this embodiment of the application, the transceiver unit 81 is further configured to send the first RRC paging message at the first paging time, or send the second RRC paging message at the second paging time.

In this embodiment of the application, the transceiver unit 81 is further configured to send the second RRC paging message when a difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is greater than a second set duration.

In an embodiment of the application, the apparatus further comprises: a processing unit 82, configured to discard the second message or discard the first message.

In the embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 81 is further configured to: after the first RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the first RRC paging message to the first network equipment; the second sending unit is further configured to send, to the first network device, a feedback message that is successfully sent for the second RRC paging message after the second RRC paging message is successfully sent.

Similar to the above concept, as shown in fig. 9, an embodiment of the present application further provides a paging message receiving apparatus 90, including:

a transceiving unit 91, configured to receive a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, and the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same;

a processing unit 92, configured to select a newer message from the first message and the second message, where the newer message is the first message or the second message;

the transceiver 91 is further configured to send a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, where the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message when the newer message is the first message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit is specifically configured to: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; determining that the first message is the newer message when the first time is greater than the second time; and/or determining the second message as the newer message when the first time is less than or equal to the second time.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit 92 is specifically configured to: acquiring a first data volume and a second data volume, wherein the first data volume is the data volume of the first message, and the second data volume is the data volume of the second message; when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, determining that the first message is the newer message; and/or when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, determining the second message as the newer message.

In an embodiment of the present application, the processing unit 92 is specifically configured to: and selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number; the processing unit is specifically configured to: when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, determining that the first message is a newer message; and/or determining the second message as a newer message when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number.

In an embodiment of the present application, the first identification information is a first serial number, and the second identification information is a second serial number; the processing unit is specifically configured to: acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message; determining a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message; determining that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or when the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, adding the sequence number of the later received message and a first set value to obtain a third sequence number; making a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, determining that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a readable storage medium, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the above-mentioned method for sending a paging message, or method for receiving a paging message.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the invention to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center by wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, data subscriber line) or wirelessly (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., solid state disk), among others.

Embodiments of the present application are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It is apparent that those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the embodiments of the present application without departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, provided that such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the embodiments of the present application and their equivalents, the embodiments of the present application are intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A method for sending a paging message, comprising:

a first network device sends a first message to a second network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message comprises identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used for indicating the time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the first network device sends a second message to the second network device, the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used for indicating a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the first network device generating the first message;

the first network device generates the second message.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first network device sending a second message to the second network device comprises:

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, further comprising:

and if the first network equipment receives a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message in the first message within a first set time length and does not receive a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message in the second message within a second set time length, the first network equipment sends a third message to the second network equipment, wherein the third message comprises a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least comprises identification information of the second terminal equipment, and the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

6. A method for receiving a paging message, comprising:

a second network device receives a first message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message comprises identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used for indicating the time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the second network device receives a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

the second network equipment sends the first RRC paging message at the first paging moment;

or, the second RRC paging message is sent at the second paging occasion.

8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the method further comprises:

and the second network equipment sends the second RRC paging message when the difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is greater than a second set time length.

9. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the second network device sends the first RRC paging message, further comprising:

the second network device discards the second message;

the second network device sending the second RRC paging message, further comprising:

the second network device discards the first message.

10. The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

after the second network device successfully sends the first RRC paging message, sending a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the first RRC paging message to the first network device;

or,

and after the second network equipment successfully sends the second RRC paging message, the second network equipment sends a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the second RRC paging message to the first network equipment.

12. A method for receiving a paging message, comprising:

a second network device receives a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the second message comprises a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same;

the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, wherein the newer message is the first message or the second message;

the second network device sends a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, and when the newer message is the first message, the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network device selects a newer message among the first message and the second message, comprising:

when the first time is greater than the second time, the second network device determines that the first message is the newer message; and/or

And when the first time is less than or equal to the second time, the second network equipment determines that the second message is the newer message.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, comprising:

when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, the second network device determines that the first message is the newer message; and/or

And when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, the second network equipment determines that the second message is the newer message.

15. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message, comprising:

and the second network equipment selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

the second network device selects a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, and the selecting includes:

when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, the second network equipment determines that the first message is a newer message; and/or

And when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number, the second network equipment determines that the second message is a newer message.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

the second network device determines that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or

When the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, the second network device adds the sequence number of the later received message to a first set value to obtain a third sequence number;

the second network device makes a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, the second network device determines that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

19. A first network device, comprising:

a transceiver, configured to send a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiver is further configured to send a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising:

a processor configured to generate the first message and the second message.

21. The device according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the transceiver, when sending the second message to the second network device, is specifically configured to:

sending the second message to the second network device prior to the first paging occasion.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

23. The apparatus of claim 19 or 20, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

and if a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message in the first message is received within a first set time length and a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message in the second message is not received within a second set time length, sending a third message to the second network equipment, wherein the third message comprises a third RRC paging message and third paging time information, the third RRC paging message at least comprises identification information of the second terminal equipment, and the third paging time is later than the second paging time.

24. A second network device, comprising:

a transceiver, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, where the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiver is further configured to receive a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

25. The device of claim 24, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

transmitting the first RRC paging message at the first paging time; or, the second RRC paging message is sent at the second paging occasion.

26. The apparatus of claim 24 or 25, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

and when the difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is larger than a second set time length, sending the second RRC paging message.

27. The apparatus of claim 24 or 25, further comprising:

a processor configured to discard the second message when the transceiver transmits the first RRC paging message, or discard the first message when the transceiver transmits the second RRC paging message.

28. The apparatus according to claim 24 or 25, wherein the first message further comprises first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further comprises second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

29. The device of claim 25, wherein the transceiver is further configured to:

after the first RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message aiming at the successful sending of the first RRC paging message to the first network equipment;

or after the second RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message for successful sending of the second RRC paging message to the first network device.

30. A second network device, comprising:

the transceiver is used for receiving a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, wherein the first message comprises a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the second message comprises a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same;

a processor configured to select a newer message from the first message and the second message, wherein the newer message is the first message or the second message;

the transceiver is further configured to send a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, where the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message when the newer message is the first message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the processor, when selecting the newer message from the first message and the second message, is specifically configured to:

acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when the second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message;

determining that the first message is the newer message when the first time is greater than the second time; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and when the first time is less than or equal to the second time, determining that the second message is the newer message.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein the processor, when selecting the newer message from the first message and the second message, is specifically configured to:

acquiring a first data volume and a second data volume, wherein the first data volume is the data volume of the first message, and the second data volume is the data volume of the second message;

when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, determining that the first message is the newer message; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

and when the first data volume is smaller than or equal to the second data volume, determining that the second message is the newer message.

33. The apparatus according to any one of claims 30 to 32, wherein the first message further comprises first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further comprises second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

34. The device of claim 33, wherein the processor, when selecting the newer message from the first message and the second message, is specifically configured to:

and selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

when selecting a newer message from the first message and the second message according to the first identification information of the first message and the second identification information of the second message, the processor is specifically configured to:

determining a message received later by the second network equipment and a message received earlier by the second network equipment according to the first time and the second time; when the first time is greater than or equal to the second time, the later received message is the first message, and the earlier received message is the second message; and/or when the first time is less than the second time, the later received message is the second message, and the earlier received message is the first message;

determining that the later received message is a newer message when the sequence number of the later received message is greater than the sequence number of the earlier received message; and/or

When the sequence number of the later received message is less than or equal to the sequence number of the earlier received message, adding the sequence number of the later received message and a first set value to obtain a third sequence number;

making a difference between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier, and if the difference value between the third sequence number and the sequence number of the message received earlier is larger than or equal to a second set value, determining that the newer message is the message received earlier; and if the difference value of the first set value and the second set value is smaller than a second set value, determining that the newer message is a message received later, wherein the second set value is the first set value/2.

37. An apparatus for transmitting a paging message, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to send a first message to a second network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiver unit is further configured to send a second message to the second network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, further comprising:

a processing unit configured to generate the first message and the second message.

39. The apparatus according to claim 37 or 38, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

40. The apparatus according to claim 37 or 38, wherein the first message further includes first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further includes second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

41. The apparatus according to claim 37 or 38, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to:

42. An apparatus for receiving a paging message, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a first message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, the first RRC paging message includes identification information of a first terminal device, and the first paging time information is used to indicate a time when a second network device sends the first RRC paging message;

the transceiver unit is further configured to receive a second message sent by the first network device, where the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, the second RRC paging message includes identification information of the first terminal device and identification information of the second terminal device, the second paging time information is used to indicate a time when the second network device sends the second RRC paging message, and the first paging time is the same as the second paging time.

43. The apparatus of claim 42, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to send the first RRC paging message at the first paging occasion or send the second RRC paging message at the second paging occasion.

44. The apparatus according to claim 42 or 43, wherein said transceiver unit further comprises

And the second RRC paging message is sent when the difference between the current time and the second RRC paging time is greater than a second set time length.

45. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising:

a processing unit, configured to discard the second message or discard the first message.

46. The apparatus of claim 42, 43 or 45, wherein the first message further comprises first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further comprises second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

47. The apparatus according to claim 43 or 45, wherein the transceiver unit is further configured to: and after the first RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the first RRC paging message to the first network equipment, or after the second RRC paging message is successfully sent, sending a feedback message which is successfully sent aiming at the second RRC paging message to the first network equipment.

48. An apparatus for receiving a paging message, comprising:

a receiving and sending unit, configured to receive a first message and a second message sent by a first network device, where the first message includes a first RRC paging message and first paging time information, and the second message includes a second RRC paging message and second paging time information, and the first paging time and the second paging time are the same;

a processing unit, configured to select a newer message from the first message and the second message, where the newer message is the first message or the second message;

a transceiver unit, further configured to send a third RRC paging message included in the newer message, where when the newer message is the first message, the third RRC paging message is the first RRC paging message; and when the newer message is the second message, the third RRC paging message is the second RRC paging message.

49. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

acquiring first time and second time, wherein the first time is the time when second network equipment receives the first message, and the second time is the time when the second network equipment receives the second message;

determining that the first message is the newer message when the first time is greater than the second time; and/or

50. The apparatus according to claim 48, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

when the first data volume is larger than the second data volume, determining that the first message is the newer message; and/or

51. The apparatus according to any one of claims 48 to 50, wherein the first message further comprises first identification information, the first identification information is used for identifying the first message, the second message further comprises second identification information, the second identification information is used for identifying the second message, and the first identification information and the second identification information are different.

52. The apparatus according to claim 51, wherein the processing unit is specifically configured to:

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

the processing unit is specifically configured to:

when the first sequence number is larger than the second sequence number, determining that the first message is a newer message; and/or

And when the first sequence number is less than or equal to the second sequence number, determining that the second message is a newer message.

54. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein the first identification information is a first serial number and the second identification information is a second serial number;

the processing unit is specifically configured to:

55. A readable storage medium comprising stored instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 18.